Building top of the line AMD rig. Comments please

[gf4200isdabest]

My friend's computer sucks. It's some HP crap-puter. I'm gonna help him build a new one. It's going to be an AMD rig. Here's what I got so far:

Asus A7N8X nforce2 mobo
AMD Athlon XP 2700+ (with the 166fsb)
Gigabyte 9700 Pro
Corsair PC3200 400MHZ Cas2
2* WD 80GB JB (8mb)
Samsung 955 DF (this one isn't debateable. When my friend saw my monitor, he "HAD TO" have one...lol)
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz Sound Card
Altec Lansing 5100 5.1
Keyboard
Microsoft Optical Scroll Mouse

We'll decide on case later...

I think i got everything. If i skipped something let me know. Let me hear your comments on this setup. I was fairly conservative and stuck to stuff I saw in the setup rigs at AT and THG...

 

[gf4200isdabest]

oops....forgot PSU. Hmm. I don't see any reason to get one of those ridiculous 500W ones but I know its better to be "safe than sorry." What would you guys recommend as a standard PSU for the system described?

 

[foofoo]

hi,
looks pretty good. i might be tempted to go with the excellent onboard sound rather than the santa cruz.
i would also get a liteon cdrw and toshiba dvd-rom.
for ps, maybe an antec 400w or an enermax 431w.
xp home should round it off.
good luck

 

[Tab]

Bleh! LiteON! Get Yahama's CD-RWF1. You can burn CD's much quieter and burn text to the CD. I would get something better than the Santa Cruz, Audigy 2 all the way 😀

 

[CurtCold]

Looks good here too, I would def get a 350 watt cpu to make sure you have enough power.

Onboard sound is prolly nice enough and will save some dough.

 

[jfall]

Although the 955df is a nice monitor (I have one myself).. you might want to check into the NF. The DF is a very nice monitor for the price, but I wouldn't push it past 1280x1024. Also, if your getting two hard drives.. you might want to think about using Raid. And Enermax has very nice quality power supplies.. might want to look into those.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: Tabb
Bleh! LiteON! Get Yahama's CD-RWF1. You can burn CD's much quieter and burn text to the CD. I would get something better than the Santa Cruz, Audigy 2 all the way 😀

I wouldn't use that crap CD-RW either. 😛 Yamaha is great, as is Plextor.
but they are semi-unnecessary nice.

 

[Anubis]

Lite On is fine. how often do you brun text on you CDs and actually look at it? and my Lite On 40x burner makes absoutly no noise so i have no clue where you et this noise argurment
Get a Aopen (Pioneer) Slot Load DVD drive. They just plain rule
For a Power Supply get an Antec True Power 380 or 430 will cover that sys just fine
Id get a Wireless Keyboard just because i like to sit back and the damn cord is never long enough
The Santa Crus is fine. Its equivlent to the SB Audigy. and there is no need for Audigy 2

 

[mrman3k]

The sound area is what I would say is a little weak. There are two routes you should go:

1. Use onboard Nvidia sound which is VERY good.
2. Use an Audigy 2 card which is equal to the Nvidia sounds, maybe a bit better

Speakers, don't get the Altec Lansing ones, instead get these options (prices are approximates):
1. Klipsch Promedia 5.1 ($400)
2. Logitech Z680 5.1 ($400)
3. Klipsch Promedia 2.1 ($150)

If you can post some more info on how much is being allocated for speakers, I would be happy to tailor the sound to fit his needs better. But for absolute best quality speakers get the Klipsch 5.1 or Logitech Z680.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Originally posted by: Yield

Originally posted by: Tabb
Bleh! LiteON! Get Yahama's CD-RWF1. You can burn CD's much quieter and burn text to the CD. I would get something better than the Santa Cruz, Audigy 2 all the way 😀

I wouldn't use that crap CD-RW either. 😛 Yamaha is great, as is Plextor.
but they are semi-unnecessary nice.

Whatever man. I'd go Lite-On or Plextor. If you do the Toshiba SDM1610B / Lite-On combo there is nothing you can't burn. 😉

In other news I'd take the 2600+ 166 XP to save a few bucks. I'd also just get PC2700 if you're not overclocking. For monitor... Yeah that one is nice but not as nice as the other Samsung 950N (I think). How about the Viewsonic P95f+ or Sony G420S? $300 & $350 @ MWave respectively. I'd also give the onboard sound a try and then add the TB later if you feel up to it.

 

[gf4200isdabest]

mrman3k; i've used all of those things myself and I'd have to say this setup is best in terms of sound quality.